MANTECA - A Roseville man accused of making an Internet threat against a Manteca police officer in response to an officer-involved shooting has been ordered to stand trial on criminal charges.

Dominic Aguilar faces a felony charge for criminal/terrorist threats stemming from his Facebook comment on a protest page that memorializes Ernesto Duenez Jr., a Lathrop man shot to death by Manteca police Officer John Moody during a 2011 stakeout.

A judge on Wednesday heard the testimony of two officers in determining that Aguilar's case should go to trial.

Officer Armen Avakian said on the witness stand that Moody felt he had to watch his back after learning about the Facebook post.

Aguilar was responding to a video uploaded on the Facebook page of the shooting recorded by the patrol car dash cam, according to his defense attorney.

"50 rounds to your dome Moody..." Aguilar said in one of his posts.

In another, he wrote: "...so when you pull me over and ask for my I.D., pop pop pop to your face then I'm outie G...Cougnut..."

Defense attorney Tai Bogan argued that Aguilar's words were ambiguous and were not sent to Moody, hence not intended as a direct threat.

Bogan further argued his client was expressing protest protected by freedom of speech laws. And that he was quoting lyrics by (late) rapper Cougnut.

Under cross examination, Avakian said he was unaware of whether Moody was the first one to read the Facebook comment.

Though Avakian admitted that law enforcement jobs come with a level of danger, Moody indicated to him the comments caused him more worry for his safety.

"He didn't cry, but I think he was kind of holding out," said Avakian, who said he is a friend to Moody.

Detective Ian Osborn was called to testify on his investigation into Aguilar's case.

Osborn said Aguilar admitted to posting the comments about the police officer.

He also suggested Moody took them as legitimate threats: "I would almost say that he was tearing up."

In addressing Bogan's questions, Osborn said he did not recall if Aguilar was responding to a video of the shooting incident and he did not know who the first person in the department was to read the post.

San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Ron Indran closed by emphasizing that Aguilar's statements had Moody thinking he could be shot the next time the officer initiated a traffic stop.

"In (Aguilar's) own words he said, 'I wrote it for the shock value,' " Indran said.

Judge Ronald Northup decided there is enough evidence to proceed with felony charges, saying any reasonable police officer could be in immediate fear considering the context.

"A lot of speech is not protected," Northup said. "I don't think there's a social media exception ... I don't think these particular words are ambiguous."

Bogan said he is confident Aguilar will be free to live his life in peace because there are high court rulings that support his First Amendment arguments.

"This ruling does not detract from my resolve, but invigorates my passion to stand up for Dominic and others like him against the heavy hand of the government," he said. "Fortunately, Dominic has the right to a trial by a jury of his peers."